


On the Jedi

by SpaceWall



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Fixing Anakin Skywalker's Issues, Friendship, Gen, Happy Ending, Loyalty, Present Tense, list format
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-25
Updated: 2018-01-25
Packaged: 2019-03-09 06:00:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,527
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13475187
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpaceWall/pseuds/SpaceWall
Summary: Click-Bait Synopsis: 7 Fact U Need to Know About the Jedi- You'll Never Believe #!Actual Synopsis: Obi-wan Kenobi sorts some stuff out, and by some stuff I mean Anakin Skywalker and also Obi-wan Kenobi





	On the Jedi

**Author's Note:**

> First Star Wars fic- possibly last Star Wars fic. Blame that Mon Calamari arc of Clone Wars where Padmé does senator things underwater and Kit Fitso is inexplicably wearing a Speedo. And no that doesn't have anything to do with this plot it just really made me want to write something about Star Wars.

**Fact 1: The majority of Jedi are raised in the temple from the age of five or younger.**

The youngling tugs on Obi-wan’s robes, bringing him into the present. She’s Twi’leki, and she holds onto Obi-wan like she’s drowning. 

“I want to go home,” she screams, in basic, and dissolves into tears. 

Obi-wan is about thirty seconds from panicking when his Padawan, who is sixteen this year, deftly frees him, picking up the youngling and holding her tight to his chest. Anakin makes soothing noises, and rocks her back and forth. 

“It’s okay, it’s okay.” Anakin soothes, speaking softly, “you’re going to be okay. You’re so brave.” He never tells her any of the usual Jedi adages, that she must release her attachments, that she must release her fear into the force. After a time, she calms, and Anakin gently puts her down, so she can toddle the rest of her way down the hallway to rejoin the other younglings. 

Once the girl is gone, Anakin’s eyes flash dark, and Obi-wan can feel his rage. “Child stealers.” He says, without context, and storms away like death itself. Obi-wan pinches the bridge of his nose. Raising a teenage is not easy.

**Fact 2: Jedi are forbidden from forming attachments.**

“Don’t touch me!” Anakin snaps, turning away from Obi-wan. 

“Anakin!” Obi-wan returns, “This is hardly behavior appropriate of a Jedi.”

“Well, it’s a good thing that I’ve never been a proper Jedi anyway,” Anakin says, and moves to walk away from Obi-wan. Without thinking, Obi-wan reaches out to touch him in the force, and finds that Anakin truly believes this about himself. It breaks Obi-wan’s heart. 

“Anakin,” Obi-wan repeats, and he can hear the sorrow in his voice. Anakin must hear it too, because he stops. “I- you are going to be a fantastic Jedi, Anakin.”

Anakin doesn’t even turn around, but he does say, “Careful Master, you almost sound like you care.”

Obi-wan lets him walk away.

**Fact 3: Jedi form bonds with one another, as a natural part of their training process.**

When Anakin attains his knighthood, they don’t break the bond. It’s not a conscious act of rebellion, on either of their parts, they just… forget. Obi-wan had never had to break his own training bond, for obvious reasons, and Anakin is distracted, these days. They both are. There is a war on, after all. 

When they- Obi-wan- finally figure out, months later, that it isn’t severed, Anakin has just been rescued, having crash landed his ship on an unimportant moon. 

“You are an idiot,” Obi-wan tells him. 

Anakin presses the heel of his hand to his forehead, and Obi-wan realizes that he can feel Anakin’s oncoming headache. 

He revises. “We’re both idiots- Anakin, we haven’t broken your training bond.”

Because Anakin is a mature adult, one who Obi-wan raised, he rolls his eyes at this. “Oh really, gosh Master Obi-wan, I had no idea. Thanks for enlightening me.”

Anakin knew. Excellent. “How long, exactly, have you known?”

Anakin rolled his eyes. “Consciously, I mean, about fifteen seconds. But subconsciously- I wasn’t thinking about not breaking it, but that’s because I’m used to it. Obviously, I’ve been aware that it’s not broken. I’m ignorant, not force-blind. I would have noticed if it had broken.”

The shameful thing is that Obi-wan has barely even felt their connection these past few months. He’s been so distracted that he’s barely even payed attention to Anakin, to himself, to anything or anyone other than this damn war. But now that he’s aware, he opens his mind- if he were not a Jedi, he would say his heart- to Anakin.

The wave of sorrow, and anger, and pain, and (despite it all) love hits him like a physical blow. “Anakin,” he whispers, and in a heartbeat they are both weeping, shamelessly, Anakin in Obi-wan’s arms like the lonely child he had once been. “Tell me everything,” he commands, and Anakin does. 

Afterwards, he holds Anakin, and says nothing. They’re both assigned new missions the next day, and don’t meet face to face for a month. But their bond stays, and in that way, they know that they are both alive, and that they are both alright. Or at least, they will both be alright.

**Fact 4: A good Jedi is understanding.**

Obi-wan tries to understand what Anakin has with Padmé, he really does, but it’s a little incomprehensible to him. They’re married, that he gets, but the inner workings of that marriage are baffling. They’re not even within a lightyear of each other more than once a month, and yet they’re attached at the hip. Anakin is fiercely protective of Padmé, but will happily walk into horrible danger at her side. In a similar vein, he has great contempt for anyone who doesn’t respect Padmé’s ability to protect herself. Obi-wan tries to be understanding

Obi-wan tries to understand what Padmé has with Anakin, he really does, but the Senator from Naboo is an enigma to him in some respects, despite the profound connection- read: Anakin Skywalker- they now share. He remembers her as queen, though he tries not to think about that time, for myriad reasons. He remembers her courage on the dozen missions or mishaps they’ve shared. But none of that seems compatible with a relationship with someone like Anakin. Obi-wan loves the boy like a brother, but come on? He’s got all the emotional maturity of a particularly sensitive bantha. But Obi-wan watches Padmé shoot the droid in the sniper’s nest, and he tries to empathize with what she feels. 

That’s roughly the point at which Obi-wan gets shot. It’s only a graze, but it’s right along his ribs, and he falls with a shout. Suddenly, Anakin and Padmé make perfect sense. They move to him as one being. Anakin stands over him, deflecting blaster bolts with his lightsaber, while Padmé checks Obi-wan’s wound. 

“My sincere apologies for getting you into this mess, Senator,” Obi-wan tells her, over the din. She pokes at his wound, which makes him shout, “Force!”

Unfazed, the Senator pulls a bacta patch from somewhere within her robes and applies it. When Obi-wan gives her a baffled look, she says, “Messes tend to find me, Master Jedi. Or at least they find him.” She nods at Anakin, “and we find each other. But the point is, I end up in the mess.”

Satisfied that Obi-wan is uninjured, she ducks away from a wide swing of Anakin’s lightsaber, which deflects a blaster bolt aimed at her head. Then she aims her own blaster, and returns to her task of shooting droids. The fond look Anakin gives her makes perfect sense, and Obi-wan finds that he understands.

**Fact 5: Jedi are horrible gossips.**

When Obi-wan had tried, on one occasion, to explain what growing up in the temple had been like to a twelve-year-old Anakin who had wanted to know what the difference was between taking younglings from their families as the Jedi did, and the same practice implemented by slavers. The explanation he had settled on was, “growing up in the Temple is like having a massive, nosy, extended family.” This explanation held true. Like now, for example.

“And I heard that Master Koon is so attached to his clones that he’s refusing to give them up when the war’s done,” A Twi’leki Padawan says, conspiratorially, to her friends. They don’t realize Obi-wan is awake. He’s given up on his research, and has had his head buried in his hands for more than twenty minutes. 

“Oh, that’s a load of bantha droppings,” one of the friends says. It’s a male, younger, human or human-passing. He too has a Padawan braid. “Master Plo isn’t attached, he’s compassionate. Every good Jedi knows the difference between attachment and compassion.”

“Not every good Jedi,“ a third says. This one is older than her friends, and has an accent from Alderaan. “Have you heard about Skywalker and the Senator from Naboo?”

“What, the Gungan?” jokes the male. 

Before the Padawan from Alderaan can reveal her speculation on Anakin’s personal life, Obi-wan pulls himself up into an upright position and pretends to stretch. All three Padawans, noticing that he’s awake, begin to talk loudly about the research they’re supposed to be conducting. Despite his immediate worry for Anakin, for Padmé, he cannot help but feel fond of these Padawans. They are so, so young innocent, and they deserve to be sitting in the archives, peacefully gossiping, under Master Nu’s hawk-like gaze. 

Speaking of Master Nu, later, when the Padawans have been ushered out of the Archives for being horribly disruptive, Master Nu sits beside Obi-wan and says, “So, is it true about Skywalker and the Senator then?”

Jocasta Nu is a fascinating woman. Age-mate and friend to Obi-wan’s grand-master (and oh, is that a can of worms he so does not want to open), she is utterly unwavering. 

“Is what true about them, Master Nu?” Obi-wan asks, the picture of innocence itself. There’s no good way out of this situation. His only hope now is to keep her from ever repeating the information.

“Is it true that he’s really her brother, who was sent away to keep him from the order?” Nu asks, and Obi-wan can’t tell if she’s being intentionally ridiculous, because she already knows what she wants to, or if this is the rumor that is really circulating. The smirk on her face makes him suspect the former. Fortunately, she’s asked her leading, incorrect question quite loudly, and it’ll be all over the temple by midday tomorrow. Obi-wan thanks the force for the rebellious, deviant, rule breaking people who have always been drawn to his lineage, and, without answering, he sets off to find Anakin.

**Fact 6: Jedi are loyal.**

Ahsoka wakes Obi-wan in the middle of the night with a comm. He’s set the system to always take calls from Anakin, Ahsoka and Padmé, regardless of the hour or the circumstances. He trusts them not to be frivolous. 

“Did you know about Anakin and Padmé?” She asks without preamble, and Obi-wan can only hope that she means Jocasta Nu’s stupid rumor. But something about the hurt on her face, the set of her shoulders, tells him she doesn’t. 

“Yes,” Obi-wan confesses, because honesty is the Jedi way. “Yes, I knew. But I’m more curious how you found out.”

“I had it from Barriss, of all people, who said she’d overheard some of the knights talking about it. About them. About the ‘implications for Anakin’s place in the order’”

Obi-wan swears, carelessly, and Ahsoka stares wide eyed at him. “Oh please, it’s nothing you haven’t heard from Anakin.”

Ahsoka shrugs. He’s got her there. “How are you okay with this? I mean, aren’t you like Master Follow-the-Code Kenobi?”

“I’m more interested in why you’re not okay with it.” 

Ahsoka fidgets under Obi-wan’s watchful eye, but she answers, which is the important part. “I- I don’t know, Master Kenobi, I know it shouldn’t bother me as much as it does. Just, it seems like everyone in this whole stupid temple knew before I did.”

“You feel like Anakin doesn’t trust you.”

Ahsoka nods, and they sit in silence while Obi-wan composes his thoughts. “Anakin has only told one person in his life. Me. And he only told me because we never broke our training bond, and he couldn’t hide his feelings from me.”

“He could hide them just fine from me, and we share a training bond too.”

Obi-wan resists the urge to bury his head in his hands. “Ahsoka, who do you think taught Anakin how to shield his side of the bond and, consequently, knows every single flaw in his shielding?”

“Oh,” she murmurs. After a moment, she asks, “do we need to warn him? The council is not going to be happy about this.”

Kriff. This is so not what Obi-wan needs in his day. “Yes, please do, but perhaps in person, Ahsoka. If he’s not at the temple, then, well, I suppose you know now where to find him.”

Ahsoka inclines her head towards him. “Yes, Master Kenobi.”

She doesn’t disconnect, and Obi-wan asks, “What is it, Ahsoka?”

“What do we do?” She speaks in a burst, not even stopping for breath, “I just know the council isn’t going to be fair about this, but kriff, Master Obi-wan, I can’t just leave Anakin, but the Order, and the war, and I don’t know what to do, and-“

Obi-wan holds up a hand to stop Ahsoka, and says, “Breathe, Padawan. Anakin will be proud of you, no matter what you decide. As for what you should do- go talk to Anakin. Then do what feels right, as the force guides you.”

Ahsoka gives him a rueful smile and disconnects. Obi-wan, sadly, pulls himself from bed and trudges out of his quarters. He needs to warn Cody to brace for the oncoming storm. 

**Fact 7: Fact 1 does not stop Jedi from having families.**

“What now?” Obi-wan asks. He’s sitting in Padmé’s- and Anakin’s- sitting room. Ahsoka is beside him. They’re in a blissful pause in the war, and it surely will not last. 

Anakin shrugs. “The council has yet to technically expel me. Master Windu was very angry though. I had to bite my tongue to keep from telling him that anger was a path to the dark side. Master Yoda, on the other hand, just seemed amused. That’s almost scarier, to be honest.”

Ahsoka and Obi-wan both nod in agreement. This is true.

“It’s a safe bet that they’ll let him stay until the war is over,” Padmé says, “And I have to stay here, for the senate. But after, we’ve been thinking of going back to Naboo, maybe travelling. I have a standing offer to work as an advisor to the queen, and Anakin wants to work advocating for the enforcement of anti-slavery laws in the Outer Rim. With my family’s money, and Anakin’s celebrity, we could do some real good.”

She’s right, Obi-wan knows, but something about it makes him sad. Anakin must feel it, through their bond, because he reaches out across the space between them to grasp Obi-wan’s hand. Anakin feels, stable, at peace, hopeful. The council would feel it was sacrilegious to say so, but he felt far more in balance with the force now than he had ever been when strictly following Jedi teachings. 

“Hey, it’s okay,” Anakin says, suddenly, and Obi-wan realizes that he’s crying. He has an armful of Tattooinian Jedi before he can say anything. Ahsoka makes a pained noise in the back of her throat, and hugs Anakin too. 

“I’m so proud of you,” Obi-wan whispers to Anakin. 

Anakin turns his head slightly, and echoes Obi-wan’s words to Ahsoka. She buries her face in his shoulder, inadvertently shoving her montrels in Obi-wan’s face. Obi-wan ducks out of Anakin’s arms so he and Ahsoka can have their moment. 

Padmé gives him a smile, once they can see each other again. “You know he’s not leaving you, yeah?”

Obi-wan hugs her to him as well, because he is unspeakably, absolutely grateful, for what she has done for his brother.

**Author's Note:**

> Guys I'm sorry this isn't a Dawn story but like I'm having a time and a half with this Clone Wars thing. The time is the quality character development, interesting plots, and strong female characters, the half in Kit Fitso in that stupid speedo, like for real, what?? Everyone else in that episode wore clothes. Just because you can breathe underwater doesn't mean you can be naked. The other underwater people wore clothes.
> 
>  
> 
> Y'know what, I think I maybe gotta let that go.


End file.
